Nerves
Barbra Schulte is a Professional Cutting Horse Trainer, Personal Performance Coach, Author, Clinician, and Equine Consultant. In 2012 Barbra was inducted into the National Cowgirl Hall of Fame, one of the most prestigious honors possible for women equestrians.
www.barbraschulte.com
by Barbra Schulte
It's important to understand that our mind, body and emotions are inseparable. One always affects the other. When you consciously apply techniques that engage one, and then another, you have the ability to channel your emotions in a positive direction.
It's a skill to do this. It's not a gift one person has, and another one does not have.
The steps are:
1. Prior to your ride, choreograph your eyes. By "choreograph" I mean develop a conscious plan about where your eyes will be at all times during the concentrated part of your ride.
When you consciously control your eyes and keep them up and looking where you want to go, (or focused on an object), you go a long way toward keeping your emotions calm and focused. The reason this works is because all positive emotion is associated with eyes up. All dis-empowering emotion is associated with eyes down. Just by keeping your eyes up, you can positively channel your emotions .
So, think about where you want your eyes to be at all times. Visualize that choreography in your mind. Then, do the same as you ride.
ACTHA Monthly | August 2015 | 42
You're cruising along just fine. Suddenly, that awful, tight, stomach knot spazzes-out in your tummy. Then, it goes north into your throat like a choke hold! We've all felt that sensation. Nobody escapes it.
But, it's not about the fact that you feel anything from nervousness to downright terror from time-to-time. It's about what you do with it when it happens. It's your response to your fear that counts.
A tense situation could happen anywhere from the trail to a competition. But, that teeth-clenching, mind-racing, tight-muscle feeling is the same for all riders who feel anxious.
This article contains a simple, five-step method to give you instant relief from anxiety. It can help you shift gears from experiencing internal turbulence to feeling as if you are smooth sailing. The positive effects of these steps can help you:
1. Stay calm and focused for all your riding experiences from practice to show.
2. Stay grounded in your thinking so you can ride with more "feel". This technique can help you make the transition from analytical thinking (which is how you learn initially) to automatic responses (which is how you ride when things become second-nature).
These steps work because they combine the use of mental and physical "tools" to evoke the emotions of calmness and focus.
The eyes have it!